The tourist heart of Barcelona currently has only one way to increase the range of hotels in the luxury segment due to the municipal moratorium: the transformation of existing establishments that decide to upgrade. This is one of the routes followed by the old Crowne Plaza (four stars), on Rius i Taulet avenue in Montjuïc. After a total investment of 18 million euros, the hotel, owned by the Diagonal Plaça company, was transformed into a five-star hotel under the InterContinental brand, of the British group IHG. And it did so in the midst of a pandemic, and in this way it became the first luxury hotel opened in Barcelona during 2021.
The 273 rooms, the common spaces and the gastronomic offer were completely renovated to raise them to a higher level – they have a restaurant with a Michelin star.
The result: a change in clientele, says the hotel’s general manager, Enrique Escofet. Guests arrive from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the rest of Spain – as before the transformation – but the weight of tourists from the Arab Emirates, Korea or Singapore has increased with the jump to the luxury offer . “It is a customer with high purchasing power, who values ​​the culture of the city and the gastronomy, who is respectful and who spends more”, emphasizes Escofet.
Its employment this 2023, as in the rest of the sector, has improved compared to last year, which began with restrictions due to the micron variant of covid. Just before the Intercontinental it was at 74% capacity, 25% more than in 2022, while the fare has increased by 18%. A standard room does not go below 350 euros a night – it is usually around 400 euros.
For next week they expect occupancy to increase, although Escofet points out that, now more than before, filling all possible rooms is not their main objective. “Our driver is not the quantity, but the price”, he underlines.
It is the type of tourist offer that, in his opinion, Barcelona must bet on. “The city has challenges but maintains a great brand power; we have GaudÃ, we have the sea… the only thing missing would be more direct flights to distant destinations and some other luxury hotel brand”, he considers. The arrival of a Four Season or a Bulgari – he continues – would boost the quality of demand throughout the city and the average rates of the set of establishments.
While demand and prices are rising, the hotel is immersed in an improvement plan resulting from its transformation into five stars. One of the Intercontinental’s latest initiatives has been to create a 2,000 m2 landscaped roof. In this way, he has converted the roof that covers the area corresponding to the meeting and congress rooms into a garden with native varieties and a vegetable garden that supplies the restaurant. “This allows us to save energy by 30% in the rooms”, comments Escofet.